The Science Olympiad team at Oak Park High School participated in the county competition Saturday, Feb. 17 at Antelope Valley College. Although the team as a whole did not advance to state — placing 10th out of 39 teams from Ventura and Los Angeles counties — several individual students placed in their events.

Science Olympiad is a science-based competition comprising 23 events spanning all scientific domains — from biology to physics. Each student competes in at least three events. Most events are partner events with some allowing three people.

“Each event is unique in that it’s testing different areas of science in different ways,” junior Sriram Sridhar wrote. “For example, some events are written tests, some are labs, some are demonstrations of premade objects, and some are a mixture.”

Sridhar, a first-year Science Olympian, said he decided to join the club in order to broaden his scientific knowledge.

“I love basically all aspects of science and Science Olympiad was a way to further my involvement in the field and learn more about specific science practices as well as compete to be recognized,” Sridhar wrote.

Science Olympiad club generally meets on Thursdays with more frequent meetings as the competition approaches, both on and off campus.

“Most meetings they will be working on their [events], because if they’re in three events they have to meet with three different people,” faculty advisor Troy Labnow said. “They do all the building things outside of school.”

Upon arriving on location at 7:30 am on Saturday, Feb. 17, the team proceeded to impound, a station where the build events were inspected. Since these devices are built at home, they must be checked under certain regulations and left at impound to prevent teams from working on them further. The rest of the day was divided into six time slots based on event and tests.

Senior Asesh Panchapakesan, a second-year Science Olympian, placed sixth in Experimental Design. For this event, Panchapakesan and seniors Ritesh Malpani and co-president Matthew Lee designed and conducted an experiment to solve a given problem and wrote an in-depth lab report. According to Panchapakesan, Science Olympiad is unique in that it combines many scientific domains.

“[Science Olympiad] is very fulfilling because it offers educational opportunities for students in every single branch of science,” Panchapakesan wrote. “[It] truly challenges students to think scientifically and creatively.”

Panchapakesan also participated in Hovercraft with Malpani, Helicopters with Lee and Malpani, and Materials Science with senior Snehal Mulchandani. Hovercraft involved the construction of a hovercraft as well as a written test on the principles of physics, Helicopters challenged the students to build a flying device powered by elastic and Materials Science comprised a lab and written test on materials science.

“Teamwork is a required skill in most scientific careers today, and Science Olympiad encourages group learning by designing events that forge alliances,” according to the Science Olympiad website.

Malpani, a third-year Science Olympian, says that the competition aspect of Science Olympiad is conducive to skill-building across many scientific domains.

“[Science Olympiad] is [of] a very competitive nature that is bound to improve your own skills in a variety of fields,” Malpani wrote. “Each competition engages your critical thinking on a particular subject from a perspective that is not found in school.”

Malpani placed sixth in Experimental Design with Panchapakesan and Lee. Besides Hovercraft and Helicopters, Malpani competed also in Thermodynamics with junior Wayne Xiao. Thermodynamics comprised the construction of an insulation device and a written test on thermodynamics and thermochemistry.

Senior and co-president Carol Sun placed in all three events she chose to participate in. She placed first in Chemistry Lab with junior Jonathan Vu, first in Write It, Do It with Lee and sixth in Mousetrap Vehicle with sophomore Rachel Lin. Chemistry Lab was a combination of a lab and a test while Write It, Do It tested the students’ technical writing skills. Mousetrap Vehicle involved the construction of a small car powered by a mouse trap that must go forwards and backwards.

“My car actually didn’t go backwards,” Sun said. “But, surprisingly, I still placed sixth because a lot of people’s cars didn’t even move.”

Sun says that the immersion in the many facets of science that the competition provides has provided her with valuable experience.

“Because I was forced to participate in events I wouldn’t normally participate in — like this year I forced myself to do Mousetrap Vehicle because I’ve never done a build event and I really wanted to get that experience — I learned how to work with partners and still do well in the events that I might not be so passionate about,” Sun said.

Although Science Olympiad is rooted in the science taught in school, its atmosphere is fundamentally different from that of a typical classroom setting.

“Over the years, science classes in school have taught me how to do science,” Panchapakesan wrote. “Competitions like Science Olympiad are what actually allow me to experience the wonders of science.”

According to Labnow, competition was a rewarding experience.

“Especially on the event day, seeing their enthusiasm [and] seeing them talking after they compete [clearly shows] how excited they are to be there,” Labnow said.